Florida State athletes serve food at Champions Club after Irma hits Tallahassee

Surrounded by his fellow Florida State students at the state-of-the-art Champions Club, food in hand, Jacob Vatke could forget the power was still out at his apartment in the aftermath of a weakened Hurricane Irma.

Vatke, a 20-year-old junior economics student, was one of nearly 5,000 students that flocked to the Champions Club Monday evening to grab a free meal during a “cookout” arranged by FSU’s Office of Student Affairs to assist students impacted by the storm.

Plus, members of FSU’s football, baseball and men’s basketball teams – who ate earlier that day – served the food.

“It’s nice to come to a place that has air conditioning and a hot meal,” Vatke said. “Just to get to hang out with friends and sit right by the football stadium and look out. We didn’t get to have a football game, so this is the next best thing.”

Meals consisted of hot dogs, hamburgers, a few veggie options and desserts. FSU Vice President of Student Affairs Amy Hecht said some of the food that was served for the first home game of the season, the rest was ordered in preparation for the storm.

FSU senior men’s basketball player Phil Cofer said giving back to the community means a lot to the team.

“It feels good,” he said. “Just giving back. This is my first time doing this. It feels great to help the community out, help the guys out, help people who didn’t have food to eat today.”

“Right now, with the hurricane coming by, a lot of damage has been done,” Nnadi said. “A lot of people feel kind of down on themselves. This type of thing helps everyone come back together and boost their spirits up.”

Thrasher joked he wanted to get students used to coming to the Champions Club, especially since the football team’s home opener against University of Louisiana Monroe was canceled.

“We thought it was a great idea to kind of bring them together and raise their spirts again,” he said. “Tell them we appreciate all they did to stay safe and follow the instructions we put out. It’s a great opportunity to celebrate and we’re happy to do it.”

“I’ve never sat up here in the Champions Club before,” said 20-year-old psychology student Hannah Shellabarger. “I never thought I’d ever get the opportunity to get up here, honestly. It’s really cool to just sit up here with your friends and enjoy a nice day off from classes and get some good food.”

The evening was a chance for students to meet members of the teams serving food for the first time. A few students stopped to chat with men’s basketball coach Leonard Hamilton and shared jokes with various athletes.

Sophomore left-handed pitcher for FSU’s baseball team Clayton Kwiatkowski said Monday’s event was a chance for the FSU community to come together.

“It’s good to get out here and see out students come together and be able to provide for them if they’re having trouble getting to the store, getting food and whatnot,” he said. “To be here and to be at a school that’s able to do that is awesome.”